GCDN Annual Convening – Los Angeles 2025

This is a tough chapter for cultural leaders. Daily geopolitical realignments, technological advances, and societal and environmental upheaval – ‘wicked’ problems – have upended assumptions about our roles and responsibilities, where they start and where they end. Choices – often with personal and ethical dimensions as well as practical ones – confront us with monotonous frequency.

Calculus is the mathematical study of continuous change. In our period of continuous and, indeed, accelerating change, what calculus should we apply to our professional decision-making? What values should we protect, and what accommodations must we live with?

For a host city, the Olympic Games are more than a sporting event; they are a powerful platform for deploying soft power strategies to project political values, cultivate a national image, and showcase status to residents, visitors, and billions of viewers worldwide. Arts and culture play a pivotal role in shaping this broader narrative and impact. Alongside initiatives like the Cultural Olympiad, independent public and private commissions contribute to a rich tapestry of multidisciplinary programs that reflect identity, engage communities, and leave a lasting cultural legacy. As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics, this session examines how arts and culture programs elevate the Games' narrative, foster engagement, reflect local heritage, and create platforms for global exchange while ensuring a meaningful legacy long after the closing ceremonies.

In the aftermath of catastrophic events, recovery is not only a physical process but a profoundly emotional and social one. Deeply embedded in their communities and grounded in place-based practice, artists, placemakers, and cultural leaders are uniquely positioned to help navigate the complex pathways of rebuilding – creating space for collective healing, cultural preservation, and reimagined futures. Yet when disaster strikes, the immediate path forward is rarely clear.
This session draws on a range of practical experiences – from on-the-ground recovery efforts to the long-term support of communities through creative practice – to explore how arts and culture can address trauma, restore a sense of belonging, and lay the groundwork for more connected, inclusive futures.

The link between public space activation through arts and culture and improved mental health is well understood by experts, yet it remains largely absent from public discourse. At a time when urban loneliness, social fragmentation, and mental health challenges are on the rise – especially in cities – the role of public space in fostering wellbeing has never been more critical. So how can this knowledge be made more tangible, accessible, and influential?

This session moves beyond simply recognizing these benefits to explore strategies for effectively communicating them to a broader audience. What narratives and approaches can foster wider understanding and support? How can cultural leaders, urban planners, and policymakers bridge the gap between expert knowledge and public awareness? In an era of post-truth and growing skepticism toward science, this discussion will examine practical and effective ways to make the case for cultural activation as a key driver of well-being in urban life.

What does it take to make a cultural district – not just in name, but in structure, purpose, and public imagination?

Established in April 2025, the Grand Avenue Cultural District in Downtown Los Angeles brings together a constellation of long-standing cultural and educational institutions, civic assets, and public spaces into a unified framework. But formal designation is only the beginning. From defining shared goals, funding models, and governance structures to coordinating public engagement and visitor experience, district-making demands both strategic alignment and narrative coherence.

Taking Grand Avenue as a live case study, this session explores how internal coordination, digital infrastructure, and storytelling are being used to shape a shared identity for this emerging cultural ecosystem. Featuring a live demo from Bloomberg Connects – currently developing a digital guide for the district – and input from local stakeholders, the conversation offers insight into how institutions are building visibility, connection, and coherence across the district, and the opportunities and tensions involved in trying to speak with one voice while preserving the richness of many.

Homelessness is one of the most visible and complex challenges faced by urban centers worldwide. As stewards of public spaces – which may be the only spaces accessible to those experiencing homelessness – cultural districts are uniquely positioned to address this growing issue, often shaped by stigmatizing and reductive narratives. While not directly responsible for policymaking, they can leverage the transformative power of arts, culture, and community to inspire hope and foster compassion.

Drawing on practical examples from diverse contexts, this session will explore how cultural districts can encourage agency through collaborative rather than prescriptive interventions, and challenge stereotypes to humanize the homeless experience – moving beyond visibility to create meaningful pathways of dignity, inclusion, hope, and systemic change.

"Ownership" indicates an ability to derive benefit from the value created through an asset - land, built space, physical and intellectual property, organizational relationships and networks. Over centuries and generations, ownership in the hands of the privileged few has contributed to inequality and displacement. With a broad view of the arts ecosystem that helps to effectively support anchor arts and culture in local communities, collaborative or collective ownership and stewardship structures aim to expand opportunity and distribute the benefits of ownership - wealth building, economic stability, resilience, ability to stay in place - more broadly. While the legal and political frameworks governing ownership differ across global contexts, there are instructive and inspiring examples of public/private initiatives within the creative sector that demonstrate that it is possible to advance equity for artists and historically marginalized communities, encourage shared investment in community and cultural activity, and contribute to the growth of the creative economy. This session will engage with several examples in the U.S. and examine the unique roles that public and private (both commercial and non-profit) entities play in catalyzing and sustaining these efforts.

Focus Tracks are 90-minute sessions. Five presenters each give an 8-minute presentation from their specific context, tailored to fit the session topic. This is followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A. Three Focus Tracks run concurrently, repeated on 19 and 20 May. This Focus Track focuses on how design choices serve as vessels for past, present, and future narratives of places, and considers how architects and designers engage with communities to ensure the authenticity of the stories being told through their work.

Public Spaces are both physical and metaphysical landscapes; layered with memory, ritual, and meanings that span generations. Richly infused with queer histories, the landscape of downtown Los Angeles is a cultural district in more than one sense. Amongst the monuments of civic architecture are stories of survival, resilience, subversion and triumph. When this landscape is viewed through an anthropological lense, the study of queer people and their ancestors through time and space can reveal a deeper understanding of the origin, nature, and destiny of this remarkable group of human beings.

How are queer histories embodied, imaged, narrated, and honored? What modes of storytelling connect us most immediately to cultural legacies, both recent and ancient? This session will feature exceptional multidisciplinary LGBTQIA+ performance artists in a guided progression through Gloria Molina Grand Park as part of the official programming for the GCDN annual convening in Los Angeles, California.

This workshop addresses the critical intersection of creative districts and sustainability, recognizing the vital role the cultural and creative sectors play in achieving global sustainability goals. It acknowledges the urgency imposed by the climate emergency, and the necessity of mitigation and adaptation to its consequences. It is also grounded in the understanding that cultural districts, with their diverse operations and community interactions, are key actors in promoting sustainable practices based on a four-legged model: ecology, economy, social and culture.

Digital and experiential art can significantly enhance placemaking, transforming cultural districts into dynamic, memorable destinations. However, not all digital interventions deliver the same impact or return on investment. This practical workshop provides
public spaces and cultural leaders a clear, strategic framework to assess emerging trends, their applicability, benefits, and potential drawbacks in various placemaking contexts.

Guided by industry insights from Moment Factory, Daily tous les jours, Meow Wolf, Superblue, Jason Bruges Studio, Heatherwick Studio, Gensler, and other world-leading studios, participants will explore concrete examples and tools to evaluate when digital
creativity is worth investing in, and when caution might be advisable.